Animated short captures the spirit of ocean pollution with ironically catchy soundtrack

After seeing a string of oil spills in the 1990s, not to mention the ever-growing awareness of what waste and garbage can do in the oceans, filmmakers Tom Gasek and Miki Cash decided to make a short film about the escalating pollution in the oceans. Various other commitments kept Gasek and Cash from working on the film in the '90s, so it wasn't until technology caught up to them that the two could dig into the film, working remotely using Skype, Dropbox and other services to communicate and complete the film in 2013.

"Ain't No Fish" starts off with blue skies and a blue ocean, so even as the 1940s show tune "Some Days There Just Ain’t No Fish," sung by Hoagy Carmichael on the audio track (and by a group of Arctic seals in the film), could just be seen as Arctic seals bemoaning the lack of fish that day. As the film and song continue, however, the ocean and skies become darker and more polluted while the song continues on its jaunty melody. As it does, the contrast between the song and the images of seals dealing with the effects of ocean pollution becomes a pointed commentary on humans' casual use of the ocean as a dumping ground and the seals' inability to find fish every day, just not some days.